While professing a belief in open government, President Bush has hardly run the country that way. His administration has looked with disdain upon the Freedom of Information Act and worked to make even more information secret.
Bush isn't alone. For decades, Washington politicians have tried to block citizens from getting the information they need to assess how government is working.
But now Bush has a chance to prove his support of government transparency by signing the Open Government Act of 2007. The Senate passed the bill in early December, and the House followed suit shortly before Christmas. Support was overwhelming.
The Open Government Act strengthens the Freedom of Information Act by demanding greater responsiveness to public requests. It restores a presumption-of-disclosure standard, which requires agencies to release information unless the disclosure could do harm.
The legislation also clarifies that outside agencies in possession of government data are subject to FOIA, makes it easier to recover legal fees when information is wrongly withheld, and establishes a hotline and an ombudsman to facilitate public access.
If there is a downside to the legislation, it is that agencies still will be allowed to determine what can be legitimately withheld. Whatever was withheld before can still be withheld.
Still, this legislation sends an important and powerful message. Citizens want to see how their government works and Congress supports the cause.
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